The Unearthly Skull of Hemlock Lake

March 2025 Horror Contest

The air in Hemlock Hollow always held a certain stillness, a quiet that felt less like peace and more like a held breath. The lake, a murky expanse reflecting the dense canopy of ancient hemlocks and gnarled oaks, was the heart of this stillness. Locals whispered stories about it, tales of drownings and strange lights flickering beneath the surface on moonless nights. Most avoided it, preferring the sun-drenched shores of Willow Creek further down the valley.

But teenagers, with their inherent disregard for local lore and their thirst for the forbidden, were drawn to Hemlock Lake. It was on a sweltering July afternoon that a group of four – Liam, the self-proclaimed leader; Maya, the skeptical artist; Noah, the quiet observer; and Chloe, the thrill-seeker – decided to brave the Hollow.

They’d been swimming for an hour, the cool, dark water a welcome relief from the oppressive heat. Liam, always eager to impress Chloe, ventured further out than the others, towards the center of the lake where the water deepened to an unsettling black.

“Hey, guys!” he called out, his voice echoing eerily across the still water. “Look what I found!”

The others swam closer, their curiosity piqued. Liam was treading water, holding something aloft. It was bone-white, smooth in places, and undeniably a skull. But it wasn’t human.

The eye sockets were too large, the snout elongated and slightly curved. Rows of sharp, needle-like teeth lined the jaw, far more numerous and menacing than any creature they knew. An unnatural chill prickled their skin despite the warm air.

Maya, ever the pragmatist, was the first to speak. “What is it? Some kind of animal?”

Noah, who had a knack for remembering obscure facts, shook his head. “I don’t think so. I’ve seen animal skulls before. Nothing like that.”

Chloe, however, was fascinated. She reached out, and Liam hesitantly handed it over. The bone felt strangely light, almost hollow. As she turned it over in her hands, a faint, musky odor, like decaying leaves and something else… something metallic, reached her nostrils.

“It’s… weird,” she murmured, a shiver tracing its way down her spine.

They took the skull back to the shore, laying it on a bed of moss. The sunlight, filtering through the dense foliage, cast long, distorted shadows around it, making its alien features seem even more pronounced.

As the days passed, the skull became an unsettling centerpiece of their summer. They tried to identify it, poring over books on zoology and paleontology, but found nothing that matched. The local librarian, a woman with eyes that seemed to hold the wisdom of centuries, paled when they showed her a picture. “That… that’s not from around here,” she’d whispered, her voice trembling slightly. “Put it back where you found it, children. Some things are best left undisturbed.”

But they didn’t listen. The mystery of the skull had taken root in their minds, a dark seed of curiosity that blossomed into something far more sinister.

Strange things started happening around Hemlock Lake. The once-still water would ripple and churn without any discernible cause. The air would grow heavy and cold, even on the warmest days. They would hear faint whispers carried on the wind, sounds that seemed to come from the depths of the forest, just beyond the treeline.

One evening, as dusk painted the sky in shades of bruised purple and blood orange, Liam and Chloe returned to the lake alone. They’d been arguing about what to do with the skull. Liam wanted to throw it back, finally succumbing to a growing sense of dread. Chloe, however, was still enthralled by it, seeing it as a unique and fascinating discovery.

They sat by the shore, the skull resting between them on the damp earth. The silence of Hemlock Hollow felt heavier than usual, pressing down on them like a physical weight. Suddenly, the water in the lake began to bubble and froth. A low, guttural growl echoed from the depths, a sound that seemed to vibrate in their very bones.

Liam scrambled to his feet, his eyes wide with terror. “We need to go! Now!”

Chloe, however, remained rooted to the spot, her gaze fixed on the churning water. A strange, almost hypnotic pull seemed to emanate from the lake, drawing her in.

Then, from the dark depths, something rose. It was large, its form indistinct in the fading light, but its eyes glowed with an eerie, phosphorescent green. The growling intensified, and the air filled with the metallic scent Chloe had noticed on the skull, now much stronger, accompanied by a sickly sweet odor of decay.

Liam grabbed Chloe’s arm, trying to pull her away, but she was unresponsive, her eyes glazed over. The creature in the lake let out a deafening roar, and the ground beneath their feet trembled.

Panic seized Liam. He knew, with a chilling certainty, that whatever was in the lake was connected to the skull. He looked down at the bone lying between them, its empty sockets seeming to stare up at the darkening sky.

In a desperate act, he snatched up the skull and hurled it back into the lake. It landed with a soft splash, disappearing beneath the disturbed surface.

The roaring stopped. The bubbling subsided. The green eyes vanished. The silence that followed was absolute, broken only by Liam’s ragged breathing.

Chloe blinked, her eyes regaining focus. “What… what happened?” she asked, her voice trembling.

Liam didn’t answer. He just grabbed her hand and pulled her away from the shore, running blindly through the darkening woods, the image of the glowing green eyes seared into his memory.

They never spoke of what they saw that night. They avoided Hemlock Lake, the memory of the creature and the unsettling skull a constant, silent reminder of the darkness that lurked beneath the surface. The skull remained in the lake, undisturbed, waiting. And sometimes, on still, moonless nights, the locals would swear they could hear a faint, guttural growl echoing through Hemlock Hollow, a chilling testament to the mystery that lay hidden beneath the murky waters, a mystery best left undisturbed.